should I trap this cat?

Question

I feed 9 feral cats, the other day I caught one of them weeing in the kitchen and noticed there was light blood in the wee.
Do you think I should trap her and take her to the vets, I can't monitor her toilet as she only comes in to get fed.
She was speyed about 3 months ago.

The reason I have to trap her as they will not allow me to pick them up, they are quite wild, a dog wandered in the kitchen and the 9 cats attacked it, I picked it up and they attacked me.They don't normally attack me.
All the cats except one have been speyed/neutered I traped them individually over 4 weeks in october.

Answer 1

First up, i would like to congratulate you on your responsibilty and community spirit in neutering these cats. Not many people would do this - certainly not at personal cost to themselves. Big hooray for you!!! >^..^<

Your question - cats are not daft and generally do things for a reason. If it does not usually wee in your kitchen and has just started now, I think that in its own way it is trying to get you to help it. It knows that you would not know there was something wrong unless it did.

I know it sounds crazy, but we live down the road from our vets and years ago when our cat was hit by a car, he actually took himself to the vets and collapsed on the front porch. (Luckily they found him in time and he died years later of old age)

Also, when my mum's cats have a tummy upset they tend to poo in the kitchen. It's not nice to deal with, but at least she knows there's something up. As they are outdoors cats she would have no idea otherwise.

You could try trapping it - it might be easier than you expect - and getting the vet to look at it. If you have already invested so much in these cats, you may as well see it through.

Even if he says there's nothing wrong, you'll know for next time.

Answer 2

It depends. Of course you have the fact that the cat was on their property, but that's a cat for you. I would be very mad if it were my kitty. On the other hand, we used to live in a neighborhood with several stray cats. It seemed they were always having kittens. I worked for the SPCA at the time so we took to trapping the cats. Once caught, I would take them to work, have them spayed or neutered, tested for Felk and FIV, and vaccinate them. I would then keep them at the shelter for 1 week. During this time, I would post signs around the neighborhhod. If someone claimed the cat, then I would bring it to them. If not, then if the cat was friendly, it would be put into the shelter's adoption program. If it was feral, then I would turn it back loose at my house. After a couple of years, the number of wild kittens I saw was almost none and the overall health of the cats was a lot better- no more URI, fewer fight wounds, etc. I don't think trapping should be illegal in humane cases, but if the intentions of the trapper are less than honorable, then they should be put in a trap. Good luck getting your kitty back. Make sure you take him to the vet after you spring him out. Cats can pick all kinds of nasty diseases in places like that.

Answer 3

First if this cat is willing to come into a house she/he is NOT feral. I comment you for your effords to help these strays. It sounds like you had to trap her first to get her to Vets for spaying.
URGENT she needs to be examined by the Vet because if it is urinary blockage she could expire quickly. The reason is (and I had 2 cats I almost lost this way} The kidney keeps on working to remove toxic/bacteria from the body but if the bladder is full the bacteria stays in the kidney and it may shut down. The cat will be straining to pass urine and doing often with pain. My one cat had to stay 4 days with intense care at the Vets, lots of test and $600. The faster you get to the Vet the less cost. Often it is stress that starts these events.
There are a few other reasons, like a injury, brussing area but don't take a chance.

Answer 4

From my opinion, I say you should trap her. She might have a UTI. Since she is oviously a female it is not as bad as a male is. Still take her to the vet to see if anything is wrong with her. You do not want the cat to suffer. Plus if she is young, she might start to like sort of go into shock because she does not know what to do. It might start to be harder for her to go to the bathroom, too. Just make sure you take her to the vet. You never know maybe nothing is wrong, but if something is wrong and it is like a disease or something you do not want the other 8 feral cats to get it. Taaker her to teh vet and everything will be fine.


*Hope this Helped*

Answer 5

I agree. Can you catch her and take her to the vet? Blood in the urine could mean a uti of some sort. Giving her medication might be somewhat difficult. Maybe the vet could give her some heavy duty meds that you'll only have to give once or twice or maybe something to add to her food.

Thank you for taking care of the feral cats! You are a special person!

Good luck!

Answer 6

Hi there...hematuria (blood urine) is indicative of a lower urinary tract disorder/infection so trapping the cat to get to the veterinary hospital would be advisable. Some cats can develop urethral blockages which is life-threatening if not treated within 24-48 hours as the bladder is unable to be alleviated and ruptures within the abdominal cavity.

I have seen many animal rescues that will use a pillow case to transport feral cats safely after they have been trapped.

Urethral blockage: http://www.marvistavet.com/html/urinary_blockage.html
Feline Lower Urinary Tract Disorder: http://www.marvistavet.com/html/body_feline_lower_urinary_tract_dis.html

Answer 7

This is a tough one.
Would she go berserk if you caught her and put her in a travel basket and took her to the vet? I would suggest that you take her if at all possible as it sounds to me like she has a touch of cystitis.
My cat had it once with exactly the identical symptoms to yours. A course of anti-biotics will cure the problem, but catching her to administer them might not be so easy.
Good luck.

Answer 8

Yup.

It's probably cystitis but could be something worse.

Try to feed a wet diet and always put down loads of different water bowls. Cats are territorial, as you've obviously noticed.

Answer 9

You feed feral cats in your HOUSE? Don't you worry about rabies? But light blood in the urine just sounds like some sort of urinary infection. How do you know she was spayed 3 months ago? Is it your cat? If you want to foot the bill for a feral cat take her to the vet for some antibotics. They will require a blood/urine sample to test for. So be prepared to come off at least a benjiman for her. Just like in people urinary infections can clear up on their own. But if you want to be sure, take her in.

Answer 10

I would suggest calling the vet first and asking for suggestions, then you can make the judgement of whether or not to bring her in. Good job on having her spayed, hopefully you can get the others "fixed" as well.

Good Luck!!